Safari hunting—especially big game hunting—emerged as the first real form of tourism to Africa in the early twentieth century. It was publicized by former US President Theodore Roosevelt, a passionate hunter and conservationist. Roosevelt went on a hunting trip to East Africa after the end of his presidency in 1909. Many wealthy tourists followed his lead, and safari tourism became a major African business until the 1940s. After World War II, conservation concerns led to a shift away from hunting to “photo-safaris” and “ecotourism.”
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Further Readings:
- Roosevelt, Theodore. African Game Trails: An Account of the African Wanderings of an American Hunter-Naturalist. New York: St.Martin's Press, 1988. First published 1910.
- Steinhart, Edward I. Black Poachers and White Hunters: A Social History of Hunting in Colonial Kenya. Athens: Ohio University Press, 2005.
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1909